The present invention relates generally to animal traps. More specifically, the invention is a combination trap and portable cage used to capture and transport feral cats or similar animals.
Numerous cage-like animal traps have been devised in an effort to control the populations of animals that have the potential of becoming a nuisance or sources for transmitting infectious disease. Most of the conventional traps or cages are constructed of iron rods arranged in a grid structure and having parallel pairs of nearly identical rectangular sides. Some have trap doors present at either end or both ends. These doors are usually mounted with side edge or top edge axles. Others use vertical translationally sliding doors alternately called xe2x80x9cguillotinexe2x80x9d doors. Central-split folding doors with a torsional spring providing tension about the axle along the center-split are also used. An animal trap which provides a dual function as a carriage and feeder with multiple access mechanisms as herein described is lacking in the following referenced patents.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,063, issued to Souza, et al., discloses a metal grid trap with folding doors in which each half is subjected to the torsional force of a spring directed toward straightening the door and closing the entrance. No top edge axle rotating door or vertical translationally sliding doors are used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,703, issued to Volk, discloses a trap door that rotates on a horizontally oriented axle along the top edge of the entrance. A pair of vertical bars mounted on the right and left edges of the trap door are bound to the corresponding parts of a similar pair of vertical bars attached to the frame of the same door. This is done with a ring that encircles both left-hand bars and another encircling the two right-hand bars. When the door closes the rings fall so that the door can not be opened easily by raising the rings from within the cage. When the trip pedal is moved a rod pulls the door enough to start its fall, but gravity is primarily responsible for closing the door. It is assumed that the acceleration of gravity will produce a sufficient velocity to close the cage in time to prevent a last split-second escape.
U.S. Pat No. 4,912,872 issued to Wynn, et al., discloses a wire mesh cage and a trap door that latches shut upon closure. The same concerns mentioned above apply here. A small animal carrier cage is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,270, issued to Simon et al., which discloses a dual compartmented enclosure. One compartment is a closed-walled room with a litter box serving as the floor. The other compartment is partly enclosed like a conventional cage with a door at one end and a passage way to the litter box room at the other. This size and design appear to be insufficient in order to have a trapping mechanism integrated within the context of the carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,210, issued to Nastas, discloses a vertical translationally sliding door activated by movement of a food tray held by a rod that acts like a pendulum. This trap is supposedly safer for the animal due to its length. This trap is not meant to serve as a carrier or temporary accommodation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,594, issued to Askins, et al., discloses a trap with a vertical sliding door at each end. A spring loaded rod extends into an empty slot on a rotating cam when the rotation is caused by the motion of a trip pan. The slippage of the rod causes it to withdraw from a slot in the vertical door. This trap can be folded in order to take up less space. This trap does not appear to be meant to serve as a carrier or temporary living facility for the animal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,292, issued to Jempolsky, discloses a carrier made of solid material with ventilation holes on the vertical panels. One panel is a vertically sliding door and the bottom panel is a sliding floor that can be removed. As a trap, this device is not operated without direct human control. This device has to be maneuvered over the animal to be caught.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,624, issued to Askins, discloses a collapsible trap with a door that rotates about a horizontal axle mounted inside the trap. This door is forced downward by a reactionary plate that rotates about a horizontal axis mounted on the bottom edge of the door. A torsional spring forces the door and reactionary plate apart once the trip pedal is pressed. This trap can be folded and stored. It does not have some of the amenities of a temporary living facility.
Another example of a patent for a cage trap is describe in the W.I.P.O. Patent WO 86/05657, issued to Nicholls et al. This patent discloses a cage with a door that is horizontally and pivotally mounted on the end of the cage, but the door rotates into the cage where it is held by a trigger hook. This trap is good for long animals. As a temporary facility it is similar to other traps previously mentioned.
Most of the conventional cage traps are cages and/or traps constructed of a metallic grid material or partly sheet metal. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,270, issued to Simons, et al., a closed-walled compartment is utilized which means the animal within can not be seen. While Simons teaches a portable dual compartment cage, it is not a modularized portable cage. U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,292, issued to Jempolsky, discloses a similar transport enclosure with limited materials or the use of silicone materials for relative contact between moving surfaces.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The cat trap according to the invention is a container for capturing, transporting, and temporarily housing stray, unclaimed, or feral cats and similar small nuisance mammals. The trap is an elongated, box-shaped enclosure having a trap door at one end and a guillotine type sliding door at the other end. The trap door is mounted on hinges attached to the top wall of the cage and actuated when the cat steps on a rectangularly shaped pedal in the floor of the enclosure, causing the trap door to rotate to a closed position in order to trap the cat inside the enclosure. The guillotine door is used to obtain normal access to the cat, and the trap may be locked end to end with a litter box having a similar guillotine door. The trap door includes a detachable xe2x80x9csqueezexe2x80x9d panel which may be used to urge the cat against the guillotine door at the other end of the enclosure. Food and water are provided in drawers slidable though a side wall of the enclosure. The walls of the enclosure are made from an opaque, thermally insulated material, except for the guillotine door, which provides the trapped cat with his only source of illumination and ventilation.